He’s right, sort of. The deal needs to be in place by February 15, 2013, or the Vikings will leave. February 15 is the annual date by which a team must inform the NFL or an intention to relocate.

Thus, this needs to happen quickly, if it’s going to happen at all. As a practical matter, the process should get rolling as soon as possible after a November election in which every legislative seat will be up for grabs.

“If it doesn’t work out, we’ll get it next year,” Dayton said. “If Minneapolis doesn’t want it — most of their legislators are opposed to it, half of the City Council, almost half, is opposed to it, so if Minneapolis doesn’t want it . . . then somewhere else, Arden Hills, some other site in Minnesota.” (Perhaps the fact that the folks in Minneapolis don’t want the stadium should have been taken a bit more seriously, before the Governor killed the Arden Hills project and crammed the Minneapolis site down the team’s throat.)

“We can’t have it both ways. We can’t not do a new stadium and have the Vikings remain here for very long,” Dayton said.

Meanwhile, even with Dayton sounding the alarm, folks won’t take the situation seriously until the Vikings say that, without a stadium, they’ll move. It could be that owner Zygi Wilf will continue to kick in more and more cash until the public contribution is sufficiently low to get the attention of the powers-that-be.

Or maybe, if no public money will be devoted to the project, Wilf will get a loan and build his own stadium.

Regardless, no one is taking the “or else” seriously, because the Vikings have never said “or else.”

The fact that they haven’t said “or else” could be connected to their chronic failure to get a stadium.

Twin Cities is the 13th largest market in the league. The Vikings TV Ratings are top 5 in the league. Draw large fan bases from northern Iowa, North and South Dakota and have sold out every game in a 65,000 seat not so glamours stadium for 13 years straight. NFL won’t let this team leave for LA. They would loose a lot of money and black out a large area of the midwest from having a football team.

ar1888 says:Apr 17, 2012 5:12 PM

And the city of Jacksonville will breath a huge sigh of relief.

jenniferxxx says:Apr 17, 2012 5:13 PM

Only a large sum of taxpayer dollars … transferred to a rich billionaire … can save the day.

I don’t see any huge loss if they leave the area and/or the NFC North, and it would make me giggle to imagine Viking fans forced to watch Packer games or L.A. Vikings games. I always felt that the Vikings fans cared more about the “rivalry” than Packer fans did. Even given recent events (!) they still need us more than we need them.

Zygi can’t just take out a loan and finance the whole stadium himself. He already is making payments on a loan for a football team he bought for $600 million seven years ago. If he finances a billion-dollar stadium, the money he gets out of the stadium won’t be enough to pay off the debt, make investments in the team, and make a little money. He doesn’t owe Minnesota anything. If we want to keep our team, we need to deal with reality. Otherwise, be prepared to lose the team to another city. Just don’t blame Zygi for the short-sightedness of a handful of politicians.

well if the Lakers can move to LA where there are no lakes, what is to stop the Vikings from following suit. shame really. LA doesn’t deserve a team following the Don, the Rams and the Raiders. who is pushing for this outside of the NFL? LA beer distributors?

Hate to split hairs, and lip slips happen to the best of them. Thanks for your passion, Mike. Too many in Minny don’t have that, even at the levels that ‘make decisions’.

footballnut2011 says:Apr 17, 2012 5:22 PM

If the vikes leave the twin cities. I am done with the NFL.

mojosmagic says:Apr 17, 2012 5:22 PM

Isn’t this the state that lowered the wages of teachers, and government employees crying poverty? Yet they can find money to give away to a billionaire owner to build a stadium. The fans are held hostage by the super rich owners who threaten to move their teams. I propose a law making it illegal to move a team under extortion threats by owners. The teams should be property of the states and “rented” by the owners. You can sell but the team stays.

glac1 says:Apr 17, 2012 5:23 PM

They’ve sold out because of corporate buyouts at the last minute time and time again. Minnesota fans are very fickle…………..

at least Dayton has been trying to get this thing done. And the Wilfs have been very patient. The Wilfs are also putting the 3rd largest contribution in NFL history up front… To bad MN politics are a joke… especially Zellars,,, you sir are a tool

If it wasnt an election year I think it would have passed. They talked about putting it to a public vote, but funny, Twins didnt need that. Or do the smart thing and let the one Tribe build the casino and no public money will go towards it unless u gamble there. but that wont happen cause all the other tribes have a bunch of the legislator in their back pockets. its all political BS

I thought I heard Ziggy was kicking in 425 million, an Indian Casino, $425 million, so the state/city needed to come up with 150 million mainly to cover infrastructure. They’ll lose way more than that in hotel tax $’s, the loss of between players/ staff/ coaches alot of high paying jobs (ie tax revenue). Plus the loss of the stadium jobs, both during construction and staffing it.

enjoy your second tier sports teams minn…..idiots, you build the stadium for the billionair because it gives your citizens jobs and your local business owners revenue for decades into the future, or let them leave and build one anyway , then enjoy waiting for a new franchise like you did the lakers/ wolves northstars/wild…..how come i never heard this much bitchin about target field?? or ya you elect ex wrestlers and comedians politicans, makes sense now

They leave to LA or someplace and in 2 years later MIN see’s what a dumbass move it was to let them go and they finally okay a new stadium.. Dont get me wrong, i could really care less if they stay or go, but that is just how it seems to happen in pro sports. Look no futher than MIN and the NHL..

February 15 is the annual date by which a team must inform the NFL or an intention to relocate.
I remember when MR. Al Davis said he was relocating to Los Angeles and the NFL took him to court now they have a deadline of Feb.15th what a joke,RIP AL

I’m a longtime Canadian Vikings fan starting in 1987 when I was 10 years old. I have made the journey to Minneapolis or a visiting stadium every year to take in a Vikes game since 1998. I used to think that the people of Minnesota were crazy passionate fans who would step up to the plate and support the Vikes in any situation because the Vikes were #1 in the state. Boy was I wrong, the fans turned out to be a bunch of thumb sucking crybabies who whenever things go south for a bit, pack it up and bail on their team. If this whole thing goes to vote and the stadium is rejected, then I say by all means, MOVE THE TEAM because this state full of part time fans sure as heck doesn’t deserve the Vikes!! If they move it’ll just show what a state of losers Minnesota truly is. Minnesota/LA Vikings, what do I care? I can fly to LA for $99 bucks V.S. $650 to Minneapolis…..I can get a suntan during December games in LA unlike in Minnesota. Still hoping the Vikes stay in Minnesota just for the integrity of your state, get the vote approved people!!!

mrhashplant says:Apr 17, 2012 5:47 PM

The Vikings belong In Minnesota. Keep it that way, dumb politicians….

Go broncos.

barroomhero80 says:Apr 17, 2012 5:48 PM

All my Vikings gear will match my lakers gear. Getting to the point where this Cali Vikings fan says bring em on down!

spreadthecheese says:Apr 17, 2012 5:52 PM

As a Packer fan, somehow this deal needs to get done. As much as I hate the Vikings, our rivalry just won’t have the same feel if the Vikes are no longer in Minnesota.

Should’ve been done years ago. Hope the new LA team loses the Vikings name and renounces every bit of the franchise’s history to start anew. Best way to wipe that blight of an org from professional sports. No fans deserve to lose their team more than Vikings fans do.

Florio makes good sense in interjecting his opinion that Wilf needs to be more proactive in getting this thing done. Either with a loan he finances with assets or putting together a deal with his billionaire cronies, it needs to be taken away from Minnesota taxpayers. The fans will still pay, of course, through ticket prices, TV rights and merchandising, but if the financials are as positive as stadium supporters contend, this becomes a win-win situation as the people of Minnesota keep their team and the financial donors who took the risk reap a nice profit.
Good plan Florio.

spreadthecheese says:Apr 17, 2012 5:55 PM

@dobberdubinsky

You’re a Viking fan — I can understand why you don’t want the Vikings to leave Minnesota. But calling fans in Minnesota “crybabies”?

It’s easy for you to call out Viking fans living in Minnesota when you live in Canada and wouldn’t have to pay one dime of the tax burden, particularly when a lot of Americans are worried about their jobs at the moment.

As a Saints fan, this out a smirk on my face. Sucks to suck. Ha
———————————————————————-
As a Saints fan, you indeed know that it sucks to suck. Don’t forget your team’s roots dude, inventor and creator of the paper bag hats along with one of the worst overall records in the whole league and a tainted Super Bowl Championship. Your team is classless and epitome of garbage. One thing that you should be happy about though is, that the Saints aren’t leaving New Orleans, that is till’ the next time it rains.

I do not want the Vikings to leave Minnesota, but if they do I will be happy when Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles times looks like an idiot!!!

I remember when Farmer said the NFL would not let the Vikings leave for Los Angeles because it didn’t when Red McCombs was the owner; but who was the commissioner? How can you say that the NFL (today) would not let the Vikings leave when Roger Goodell is a marketing guy???

Also, shame on Peter King for not contesting Farmer’s stupid claim when they both talked about this on Peter’s podcast!!!!

However, the big shame should be on anyone who felt that $300 million was way too much money for a venue that could be used for more than just one party, the Vikings!!!! There is much more money being spent in a lot more useless things!!!!
Modern day NFL stadiums are not just for the NFL teams anymore!!!! They are for concerts, the Final Four, bowl games, high school events, the Super Bowl, special college football games, and many more things that I cannot list off the top of my head!!!!

I will be sorry to see the Vikings leave Minnesota, but I know that the ownership (if still there and agrees to move) will have done so reluctantly and will feel heartbroken if this is the case.

I live in LA, love football, but I’m also a Browns fan who knows what it’s like to not have a football team. I do not wish that upon any fan. Anyone reading this imagine your team moving away. Yeah, it sucks.

firerose617 says:Apr 17, 2012 6:17 PM

Don’t blame it on those of us who live in Minnesota. I have called and e-mailed my reps to no avail – along with thousands of others who want the Vikings to stay in Minnesota.

What more can we do….they don’t listen. They are all worried about the re-election in November. I am so ticked off right now because there is NOTHING I can do.

Honest question, how was Robert Kraft able to finance Gillette Stadium with all of his own money? I realize the economy was better in the late 90’s than it is now but surely there has to be more to it than that.

Either way, it would be sad to see Minnesota lose yet another team (Lakers and North Stars and come on yes you have the Wild but they play in St. Paul and that’s just a terrible name).

mojosmagic says:Apr 17, 2012 6:34 PM

Here is a novel idea. Let the freakin billionaire owner build it with his money.

flannlv says:Apr 17, 2012 6:42 PM

Hey all you Minnesota* Vikings fans. Will you get to retain the name and records when the team moves to LA? Oh the memories. 2009 NFCCG really has to hurt now.

I love it, after they leave I’ll be able to watch all the Packer games.

thraiderskin says:Apr 17, 2012 6:52 PM

I have another novel idea, hey Ziggy, pack it up and take the team to a location that is willing to help pay for the benefits of having a NFL team being located in that state. You want your NFL team to stay in your location, you better be willing to pay for it, or else shut up and wave’em goodbye.

Say what you will about Jerry Jones, but at least he didn’t hold an entire states taxpayers hostage so he could triple the value of his investment.

You own an NFL team. Build your own damn stadium. If you want to move the team to LA so you can be a bazillionaire, then just come out and say it instead of making the people of Minnesota feel guilty for not fronting a billion dollars in a down economy.

As a Saints fan, this out a smirk on my face. Sucks to suck. Ha
———————————————————————-
As a Saints fan, you indeed know that it sucks to suck. Don’t forget your team’s roots dude, inventor and creator of the paper bag hats along with one of the worst overall records in the whole league and a tainted Super Bowl Championship. Your team is classless and epitome of garbage. One thing that you should be happy about though is, that the Saints aren’t leaving New Orleans, that is till’ the next time it rains.

————————————————————–

You can call our team classless and garbage all you want, but three years from now we will have a team and you will have nothing.

And we will continue to be proud of the fact it was our classless garbage team that started yours on the downward spiral to irrelevancy and eventual extinction.

Tell me one reason why Wilf should keep his team in Minnesota. If I was Wilf I’d either move the team, or I’d pay for a stadium myself, and then donate to every politician that ran against the incumbents. I would also stick it to the state for the 350 dates a year that they think they could use my stadium. But mostly I would just leave.

Minnesota politicians are the worst kind of politicians…they do absolutely nothing. At least with a politician that makes mistakes you know where he stands, and at least something is being done.

mmcdan133 says:
Apr 17, 2012 6:58 PM
————————————————–
The state wasn’t funding a billionaire dollars numb nuts. Get your facts straight before you crucify somebody. It was a partnership, with Wilf kicking in the third most ever by an owner. And, the stadium would be for the state to use approximately 350 days a year, which would mean revenue for the state.

jealst says:
Your hatcher is the epitome of garbage. Hope your suck team move to LA. Have fun playing with your hockey stick dip.

———————————————————————-
As a Saints fan, you indeed know that it sucks to suck. Don’t forget your team’s roots dude, inventor and creator of the paper bag hats along with one of the worst overall records in the whole league and a tainted Super Bowl Championship. Your team is classless and epitome of garbage. One thing that you should be happy about though is, that the Saints aren’t leaving New Orleans, that is till’ the next time it rains.

granadafan says:Apr 17, 2012 7:36 PM

Cities need to draw the line in the sand. Let the billionaires in leagues worth hundreds of billions of dollars finance their own places of work.

He’ll just build it himself. Then he’ll increase ticket prices by $15-20 across the board. When they don’t sell out, blackout.

He’ll get your money one way or the other.

***
NO, he won’t, unless you are a mindless zombie that groans and waves $50s in the air. Wake up. It’s YOUR money. Be a fan. but you are NOT required to spend a cent on your team if YOU do NOT CHOOSE to.

This constant increase in spending proves we Americans have insane amounts of discretionary money and explains the upward spiral of the salaries and ticket prices. Blaming it on anything else is short-sighted. The owners make money because they assume that YOU will PAY, Every Year. And you DO IT.

In the spirit of tax day, think about how much of your own time and sweat is worth. NFL is private entertainment. This is why there’s such an uproar over public funding of a stadium.

Could we please have one of our resident dumbasses, like jenniferxxx, explain to us how a public contribution to a facility which will benefit the public mightily is “giving away millions of dollars to a billionaire owner”?

So Dayton will hide under his desk…far away from his office. Heck, it worked when he was in the Senate and it got him a ‘promotion’. Where does Minnesota come up with these freaks?

ruvelligwebuike says:Apr 17, 2012 7:45 PM

“The reason the Vikings don’t have a season ticket waiting list is because there is so much to DO in Minnesota. Hiking, theatre, art, the Twins, fishing, golf…there’s just so much to DO. What is there to do in Wisconsin other than watch the Packers.”

I’ve heard this rant too many times to feel sorry for anyone in Minnesota. Crap fanbase with no heart and no guts. Have fun watching the Twins…you are elite since no other city or state has pro baseball.

thepvyharvin says:Apr 17, 2012 7:51 PM

We are still better off than the Aints,,,,we don’t have a tainted SB trophy!

“The reason the Vikings don’t have a season ticket waiting list is because there is so much to DO in Minnesota. Hiking, theatre, art, the Twins, fishing, golf…there’s just so much to DO. What is there to do in Wisconsin other than watch the Packers.”

I’ve heard this rant too many times to feel sorry for anyone in Minnesota. Crap fanbase with no heart and no guts. Have fun watching the Twins…you are elite since no other city or state has pro baseball.

——————————————————————–

LOL, the Vikings don’t have a wait list? That is pathetic.

Just one more reason they don’t deserve to have a team.

cardiffgiant11 says:Apr 17, 2012 8:14 PM

“The reason the Vikings don’t have a season ticket waiting list is because there is so much to DO in Minnesota. Hiking, theatre, art, the Twins, fishing, golf…there’s just so much to DO. What is there to do in Wisconsin other than watch the Packers.”
___________________________________
Yeah the reasons the Patriots sell out every game HAS to be because there’s no hiking, theater, art,fishing, or golf anywhere close to Greater Boston

cardiffgiant11 says:Apr 17, 2012 8:17 PM

LA isn’t such a sure thing either, they’re having all sorts of issues figuring out where to put their proposed stadium.

I’d like to see them stay in MN but they really do need a new stadium if they are going to stay. I went to a Twins game there once and a guy with us called it “The Hartford Civic Center of the Midwest”.

Seems apt since both are horribly antiquated and the roofs on both collapsed due to snow in the past.

La vikings ..sounds good…all u vikeQueens fans swinging from the saints ballsacs need to worry about your team and do what u need to do to keep your team instead of worring about the saints..because contrary to popular belief..”the next time it rains” is when we see that cheap azz place the vikes play in fall down again like a 20 dollar dollar store tent..u clowns..u losers..sweep around your own front door before u try to sweep around somebody elses

I’ll continue to be a Vikings fan regardless of where they play, but I gave on being a ‘Minnesota Fan’ decades ago, when it was widely reported that an individual in Minnesota could live a 40 k lifestyle on the public dole.

And that was back when the dollar was worth a whole lot more than it is today.

The DFL (Democratic Famer/Labor) party has guided political thought since the 1940s and there’s a long history of ‘hate the rich’ thinking in Minnesota: My uncle – who is a huge Viking fan – hates the idea of players making so much money.

Maybe that’s why the state looses so many teams. If the Vikes were to change their name to the ‘Saint Paul Socialists’ they might have a chance.

“(Perhaps the fact that the folks in Minneapolis don’t want the stadium should have been taken a bit more seriously, before the Governor killed the Arden Hills project and crammed the Minneapolis site down the team’s throat.)”

That line is 100% incorrect. Dayton wanted Arden Hills, as did the Vikings. The legislature told him that they would NOT support the Arden Hills proposal… only a Minneapolis one. Just know your facts, that’s all we ask.

Yes, because there are SO many dates that will fill up 350 days a year for a 70,000 seat arena in freaking Minnesota. A 20,000 seat arena can book 100 dates a year. 70,000 gets what, a final 4 every 8 years and an occasional mega concert? That’s a money pit.

Think your own logic through before you resort to name calling.

canadianvikingsfan45 says:Apr 17, 2012 10:30 PM

i am a huge vikings fan from Canada. i have traveled to Minnesota to catch a vikes game every year for about 22 years. not only do i come to watch the vikes i also travel every summer with my family and pump money into your economy. it will be a sad day when i will not be able to come to games in the future knowing that there is no football team there.
get this passed in your legislature and built a world class stadium.
if the vikings leave i will never support any other team in the nfl and have to resort to watching our cfl .

Hopefully Minnesota gets there act together and gets a stadium built and a nice outdoor stadium that’s kinda like Seattle’s yet still open and regular open air stadium with it’s own niche. Giving the Vikings a unique home-field advantage.
( but it should have been done before Gophers got a stadium. )

only packer fans have nothing better to do then to troll the internet and post on articles about a rival team…must suck not having a life

davikes84 says:Apr 18, 2012 11:03 PM

mdd913 says: Apr 17, 2012 5:53 PM

Should’ve been done years ago. Hope the new LA team loses the Vikings name and renounces every bit of the franchise’s history to start anew. Best way to wipe that blight of an org from professional sports. No fans deserve to lose their team more than Vikings fans do.